RILKE IN ENGLISH

OF American translations from Rilke’s poetry, the best are by
C. F. MacIntyre—Fifty Selected Poems (University of California
Press). Babette Deutsch has done The Book of Hours (New
Directions). The very literal unrhymed versions by Mrs Herta
Norton, a volume of translations from the earlier books of
poetry, and the late and important Sonnets to Orpheus (both
W. W. Norton) are of the nature of “cribs”, accurate but often
extremely uncouth.

The following short bibliography refers only to books pub-

lished in England, and is in any case not exhaustive :

I. Works BY RILKE

POETRY

Poems tr. J. B. Leishman (Hogarth Press).

Requiem and other poems tr. J. B. Leishman (Hogarth
Press).

Sonnets to Orpheus tr. J. B. Leishman (Hogarth Press).

Later Poems tr. J. B. Leishman (Hogarth Press).

Duino Elegies tr. J. B. Leishman and Stephen Spender
(Hogarth Press).

Leishman’s English renderings of Rilke are always skilful, and
the best of them entitle him to be ranked among the great
modern translators of poetry, Maurice Baring, Edward Marsh,
Jack Lindsay and Arthur Waley. At its weakest, his occasionally
obscure and mannered style is at least more like Rilke than are
other translators’ bluffer renderings. He knows the poet’s mind
thoroughly, and his very full notes and commentaries are
first rate.

   

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